Moreno Formation
Encyclopedia
The Moreno Formation is a Mesozoic
geologic formation. Dinosaur
remains diagnostic to the genus
level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
geologic formation. Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
remains diagnostic to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Dinosaurs
| Dinosaurs reported from the Moreno Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Material | Notes | |
Saurolophus Saurolophus Saurolophus is a genus of large hadrosaurine duckbill that lived about 69.5-68.5 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia; it is one of the few genera of dinosaurs known from multiple continents. It is distinguished by a spike-like crest which projects up and back... |
Indeterminate |
Moreno remains formerly referred to a possible Saurolophus species are now considered to be indeterminate hadrosaurine in origin. |
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Mosasaurs
| Mosasaurids reported from the Moreno Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Material | Notes | Images |
Kolposaurus Kolposaurus Kolposaurus is a junior synonym of both:* Nothosaurus and* Plotosaurus... |
K. bennisoni |
The name Kolposaurus was preoccupied and its two constituent species moved to the new genus Plotosaurus Plotosaurus Plotosaurus is an extinct genus of mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Fresno County, California. Originally named Kolposaurus by Berkeley paleontologist Charles Lewis Camp in 1942, it was changed to Plotosaurus in 1951 when Camp discovered the name had already been assigned to a type of... . |
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K. tuckeri |
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Plesiotylosaurus Plesiotylosaurus Plesiotylosaurus is a genus of mosasaur from the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous of North America.-References:* Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California by Richard P. Hilton, Kevin Padian, and Ken Kirkland... |
P. crassidens |
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Plotosaurus Plotosaurus Plotosaurus is an extinct genus of mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Fresno County, California. Originally named Kolposaurus by Berkeley paleontologist Charles Lewis Camp in 1942, it was changed to Plotosaurus in 1951 when Camp discovered the name had already been assigned to a type of... |
P. bennisoni |
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P. tuckeri |
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Plesiosaurs
| Plesiosaurs reported from the Moreno Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Material | Notes | |
Aphrosaurus Aphrosaurus Aphrosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Mesozoic. The type species is Aphrosaurus furlongi, named by Welles in 1943. Aphrosaurus furlongi was discovered in the Panoche Hills of Fresno County, California in 1939 by rancher Frank C... |
A. furlongi |
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Fresnosaurus Fresnosaurus Fresnosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now California. The type species is Fresnosaurus drescheri, first described by Welles in 1943. The generic name Fresnosaurus honors Fresno County, while the specific name honors Arthur Drescher.Fresnosaurus was... |
F. drescheri |
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Hydrotherosaurus Hydrotherosaurus Hydrotherosaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Fresno County, California, measuring up to 13 m in length. The species H. alexandrae was named for its discoverer, Annie Montague Alexander by Samuel Paul Welles.-References:* Welles, S. P. 1943... |
H. alexandrae |
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Morenosaurus Morenosaurus Morenosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Cretaceous of what is now California. The type species is Morenosaurus stocki, first named by Samuel Welles in 1943, in honor of Dr. Chester Stock. The species was found by Robert Wallace and Arthur Drescher in the Panoche Hills region of... |
M. stocki |
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Turtles
| Testudines reported from the Moreno Formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Member | Material | Notes | |
Adocus |
J. Howard Hutchison later referred the specimen originally identified as Adocus by to the genus Basilemys. |
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Basilemys |
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Osteopygis |
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